The Launch Date is Set......

Today's update will cover the new pram I'm building more than BeBop but I know everybody wants to know when she's launching so I'm going to give the date. Barring something tragic happening, BeBop will be launched around the weekend of the 25th, roughly 3 weeks from now. I still have some stuff to complete before then involving the 12 volt system which is still acting up after fixing it last weekend, paint the bottom, caulk the rails one last time, rig up the mast, put it on deck for transport and I still need to find a slip. I know of 2 places with a travel lift and 3 places where I can get a slip right now, but I am holding off a bit longer so I can see how the money issue will turn out. I believe I'm going to be ok but there will be minimal amenities onboard at first. A proper Bimini, sail cover, barbecue, solar panels, more batteries, more fuel tanks etc etc (list continues forever) will have to wait. None of that is totally necessary right now, nice as it would be. It all bothers me a great deal but I try and remind myself 12 months ago I didn't even have a boat. 9 months ago, I had a very beat up sailboat that needed a lot of TLC. Now I have a pretty cool classic plastic sailboat nearly ready to live on. In 9 more months she should be ready for the world tour. ^_^ (with a empty wallet)

Moving on, I sold Notes this week to a couple of sailors who are taking their Bayliner 28 down to Key Largo. It was *very* sad to see her go since I built her myself from the skeg up, but if she didn't fit on deck then I had to let her go and build something else that I know would work. Enter the new pram that I designed myself using part of the basic line drawings from the Apple Pie class. It will be just 6 1/2 feet LOA with a 3 1/2 foot beam. It's a nesting dory (the worlds smallest that I know of) and I know this one will fit on deck!

Drum roll please.....I'm calling it Half Note! ^_^ ......................(ok, you can stop laughing now) Here she is.


Ok really now, here she is after I lofted the highly modified plans and cut out the pieces using a jigsaw for the mild curves and a circular saw for the rest. Just two pieces of 1/4 plywood and 1 piece of 1/2 inch will be used to make all the main pieces. It took about two hours to loft and another hour to cut. You don't want to rush this as the final product will only be as good as the pieces you start with. This next picture is her stitched together. I drilled small holes every six inches and used zip ties to hold her together.


Once it's been stitched together you need to start bonding the pieces together using fiberglass resin and 404 filler. On the first pass just go in between the zip ties to make the bond. The second pass cut the ties first and do all of the seams and make a third pass if you need to smooth it all out.


Using a cardboard template, Rich and I created the patterns for the bulkhead out of poster board, then cut them out using half inch plywood and bonded them both in. I'll give exact dimensions when I get around to creating the blueprints for her.


Before you can cut her in half to make the nesting design, you should cover the outside seams with fiberglass seam tape and the rest with lightweight cloth. Here is the bottom and stern completed. We did the sides right after this picture was taken.


For the rails we used 3/4 X 3/4 inch pine. It's soft but I'd rather dent the hell outta this than mess up BeBop. Plus it bends easy lol. It will be covered in fiberglass anyway to waterproof it. Ignore that piece in the middle as it was used for the bow and stern. Take a note...you can never have enough clamps. I was scrapping the bottom of my garage here for more.


Here are the rails bonded on. The skeg was put on less than 2 before after this picture was taken.


Now this one will blow your mind. Saturday we cut her into two pieces and this is her nesting bow piece in the stern piece. Tiny eh eh? This baby will fit on the deck of my pocket cruiser. The clamps are there because the bulkhead wanted to separate from the side of the hull. The plan is to fill the seams with 404 then use 4 inch fiberglass tape to cover them, then cover that with fiberglass cloth. (2 layers thick) I believe this should be plenty strong when completed even if it's a pain in the butt.


This is about where she is right now. I'm hoping to have her ready for testing by next Sunday, but it might be the week after. I've already purchased the new oars and oar locks. My personal feelings on Half Note is that's she's not nearly as charismatic as Notes. Nor will she be as strong or have all the floatation built in. On the plus side, She'll weigh about 30 pounds less, fit into half the space, have bigger oars (6 feet), and be completed in just two more weeks with luck. Notes took months to build by comparison.

That's it for now I think. I'm doing other smaller projects at the same time as working on BeBop and Half Note but it's too boring to mention, (like caulking around the hatchway) so I'm gong to go make myself another Gin and Tonic to help out with my sunburn and get some sleep. Until next time, Fair Winds everybody......